The Language of Audience Engagement in Converged Radio Through Facebook and Twitter: The Case of NRG Radio and Ghetto Radio in Nairobi, Kenya

Abstract

Converged radio formats have made audiences in Kenya more assertive, responsive, collaborative, and demanding. Continuous audience feedback from real-time engagement with producers, presenters, DJs, and other participants through digital platforms has thus shaped the radio stations’ identity and performance in unique ways. It has further influenced programming trends and the overall quality of production. Since the tech-savvy urban youth audiences are dynamic, volatile, and trendy, they expect fresh content and proactive presentation skills. Consequently, the language and style they use to engage the radio producers and presenters online through the converged channels, namely, Facebook and Twitter, is also unique. This chapter aims to establish the emerging characteristics of online radio listeners of the selected stations, the language and style they adopt to present their contributions, and the relevance of their feedback concerning the strategies presenters adopt while engaging their listeners through online platforms. Data were sampled from threads on the Facebook and Twitter pages of two urban Nairobi stations, NRG Radio and Ghetto Radio. Qualitative content analysis was undertaken using the tenets of the Uses and Gratifications theory. The findings reveal that audience engagement and active participation can improve the quality of service and maintain client loyalty in the face of stiff competition and new alternative media as sources of news, entertainment, and advertising. The urban catchment of these two radio stations brings together urbanites who are forthright and critical but also dynamic in ways that add value, particularly to the entertainment segments as well as news and advertising. The audiences thus exercise agency and power. As agents of change, they suggest their preferred content and can influence listenership. They can also cause a fanatical following of presenters and specific programmes. The convergence is helpful for monitoring and evaluation thereby informing the stations of sustainable youth-centred programming policies.